BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. -- The father of missing hiker Meredith Emerson made a plea Monday for the public to help find his daugher.

"I appeal to everyone to search their hearts and memories for anything they can remember and do to help us find Meredith and return her home," said Dave Emerson during a news conference near the trail where the 24-year-old hiker was last seen alive.

He also thanked the authorities leading the search for his daugher for what he called their "professional handling" of the situation.

Gary Michael Hilton, the man accused of abducting hiker Meredith Emerson, will make his first appearance Monday afternoon before a magistrate judge to face kidnapping charges.

While he's in court, the focus of the search for the 24-year-old hiker who disappeared from the northern Georgia woods on New Year's Day will change.

An investigator says authorities are focusing their search in a five-mile radius of Vogel State Park in north Georgia.

The search for Emerson stretched to Dawson County Monday.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said the search for Emerson will not stop, but that only trained search and rescue individuals and law enforcement will be involved on Monday. The GBI will be concentrating on five counties between Atlanta and Blairsville that police believe Hilton passed through. Authorities fear Emerson is no longer alive.

"We're not going to be using volunteers starting tomorrow," Bankhead said. "Given the scenario and the fact that it's a recovery effort, the mission has changed."

As hopes of finding Emerson alive fade, investigators uncovered more evidence Sunday linking Hilton to her disappearance.

Plus they are investigating possible links between Hilton and the kidnapping and murder of Patrice Endres.

Hilton tried to use the missing hiker's credit card at two ATMs, one in Canton and another in Gainesville on the day she disappeared, according to Forsyth County Sheriff Ted Paxton.

In additon, Paxton said that Hilton made a call at 4:30 Friday afternoon from a public phone at the QuikTrip store in Cumming where bloody clothes and Emerson's wallet were found on Saturday in a dumpster.

A new witness has come foward to say she saw Emerson's dog in that area around 2:30 that same afternoon; leading police to believe Hilton spent at least two hours in the Cumming area.

Police believe Emerson is dead after finding the blood-soaked clothing Saturday.

Bankhead told WSB-TV Channel 2 the GBI crime lab confirmed the blood on clothes was human blood, but are waiting for further tests to determine if it's Emerson's blood.

Another source said the blood appeared very fresh. In grim work, crime lab technicians are trying to determine if it was fresh blood or had been frozen by the cold weather and preserved. If it was fresh it might indicate that Emerson was alive as late as Friday.

Shortly after finding the bloody clothes authorities charged Hilton with her kidnapping.

Officers also found Emerson's wallet with her driver's license and her University of Georgia ID, as well as part of a blood-stained seat belt in a trash bin outside a QuikTrip convenience store in Cumming. When police searched Hilton's van they found a seat belt with a section missing.

When Hilton was picked up by police he was washing out his van with a bleach and water solution, according to the arrest warrant.

He was assigned a court-appointed attorney Sunday for his first court appearance, which is set for Monday, Union County Officer Gayle Bachelor said Sunday.

Hilton was transferred from GBI custody to Union County to face the kidnapping charges.

Emerson has been missing since New Year's Day when she went for a hike with her dog on Blood Mountain in Vogel State Park in Union County.

More than 150 people fanned out in the north Georgia woods Sunday looking for Emerson's body.

While that search goes on, Paxton told WSB-TV Channel 2 that his investigators are looking into possible links between the Patrice Endres murder and the Emerson case.

Endres was abducted in April, 2005 from her hair salon, which Paxton said is close to where Emerson's wallet was found.

Police found Endres' body eight months later in a church yard.

On Sunday Paxton had detectives and deputies checking every church yard in Forsyth County; in case there is a link and Hilton disposed of Emerson in the same fashion.

Police are also looking into similarities in the case of a missing North Carolina couple. John and Irene Bryant disappeared in October while hiking in the mountains in the Pisgah National Forest. Three weeks later, Irene Bryant's bludgeoned body was discovered. Her husband remains missing.

A man wearing a yellow jacket tried to use their ATM card. Hilton was seen wearing a yellow jacket when talking to Emerson.

"It's not looking favorable that she's alive," the GBI's Bankhead said at a Saturday news conference.

As Bankhead spoke, people standing nearby who may have been family and friends of the missing 24-year-old broke into tears. They huddled together, crying and consoling each other, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

"This is a search and recovery effort," Bankhead added, changing from a search and rescue and signaling that crews are now searching for Emerson's body.

They were back on Blood Mountain and in the wooded areas near the QuikTrip searching for Emerson on Sunday.

"A lot of evidence has been uncovered," Bankhead said. "We have received a lot of public input and we've put together a timeline that puts the two of them together."

Police first took Hilton into custody Friday night after callers to 911 said they spotted him at a convenience store off Ashford-Dunwoody Road.

Emerson's Lab mix dog, Ella, wandered into a Kroger store just down the block from the QuikTrip Friday night.

"The dog looked like she hadn't been running in the woods for three days," said Michelle Preston who found Ella.

Little is known about Hilton. He was convicted of two felonies; one for the possession and distribution of marijuana, another for theft by taking, according to public records. His last known address was on 11th Street in Atlanta in 1999, but he appears to have been living in his van, according to Bankhead.

Emerson's Father, Boyfriend Plea For Help

For the first time since Emerson's disappearance, her dad, Dave Emerson, made a brief statement Monday.

"I would first like to thank all the people involved in this search for our daughter, Meredith. The amount of effort from professionals and volunteers who donated their time and services has been overwhelming," Dave Emerson said. "I appeal to everyone to search their hearts and memories for anything they can remember and do to help us find Meredith and return her home."

No one wants to give up hope.

Meredith's boyfriend, who found her car, said Meredith is a fighter who would never give up. "Midnight tonight will be a week since I saw her. It's tough. It's everything you can imagine with the person you live through," said Steve Segars.

Segars said he is holding out hope Meredith will be found alive.

Hilton Acquaintance Says He Always Carried Baton

An acquaintance of Hilton told Channel 2 that she helped Hilton order an expandable baton like one found near the missing hiker's car. She said he always had the baton with him.

Another hiker told officials he saw a man fitting Hilton's description with a similar baton clipped to his belt hiking on the same trail that Emerson took.

Over the years Hilton has moved around quite a bit and had several run-ins with the law. Channel 2 found at least five arrests in DeKalb and Cobb Counties – both misdemeanors and felonies.